Azoty chemicals expects stable, slightly upward price trend in fertilisers in Q4

"We are slowly approaching the application season. Our traders empirically assess the level of market stocking among holdings as significantly lower compared to the corresponding periods of the previous three years," CEO Leszkiewicz said at Thursday's press conference.

"Holding back purchasing decisions will not ultimately have a good impact on logistics. We expect a stable, slightly upward price trend,"

he added.

In the agriculture segment in the third quarter of 2024, compared to the same period last year, the main determinant of results was the import of fertilisers from Russia and Belarus, influencing both a decrease in product prices, as well as a decrease in sales volumes.

In the opinion of Azoty, the continuing unfavourable global economic climate and, above all, the large volumes of cheaper fertilisers coming into the EU mainly from Russia and Belarus had a negative impact on the competitive position of European producers, causing prices to fall further.

In the case of Azoty, average prices of the segment's products were lower year on year by 7 percent.

Activity on the fertiliser market, apart from the issue of imports, was limited due to the general situation in agriculture.

Farms were negative about the profitability of production, pointing to uncertainties related to weather events and geopolitical conflicts, among others.

Compared to the third quarter of 2023, Azoty recorded a 9 percent decrease in fertiliser sales, including nitrogen (down 6 percent year on year) and compound fertilisers (down 18 percent year on year, despite an 11 percent year on year increase in speciality fertiliser sales).

The agro segment EBITDA margin generated in the third quarter of 2024 was at minus 4.4 percent and improved by 3.2 percentage points compared to the same quarter last year.

pr/ han/